


Ends and Beginnings

by Sees_writes



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Eventual Zutara, F/M, Katara as a kyoshi warrior, Katara serving tea, Katara traveling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sees_writes/pseuds/Sees_writes
Summary: Lengthy story about Katara and Zuko finally ending up together. Involves Katara's break up with Aang and Katara traveling the world before making her way to the Fire Nation and the Fire Lord. Things don't happen overnight kids so get ready to sit here for a bit.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Realizations and Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thems fightn' words

She and Aang had been staying with the Northern Tribe for a few months. They helped with building and teaching. Katara learned everything the bending masters had to offer as well as the healers. Aang worked more with politics and peace during their stay. They had been traveling for a few years now. The first year and a half after the war had been spent in the Fire Nation trying to stabilize everything. 

Then they had gone to the Earth Kingdom next with Zuko to help with the peace agreements. They had stopped in the Southern Watertribe and had stayed for a while. Aang traveled into the Earth Kingdom when needed but she had stayed put and rebuilt. The population had returned a little when the men came home, and when the Northerntribe sent people to help rebuild. When they had finally left, it looked more like a bustling town than a small village. 

Then they had been on the move. They never stopped for long and always went where they were needed. 

The first few years of their relationship had been amazing. Nothing kept them tied down. They relaxed and enjoyed each other for the first time in their life. 

But as the years moved, Katara noticed a shift. Aang had grown much from the boy she found in the iceberg. He had fought and ended a war. He was the Avatar. Some of it seemed to go to his head. It had started slowly but had grown as they traveled and met with officials. People respected him a lot more than they did her, it didn’t bother her because she knew that respect had to be earned. What bothered her is that he didn’t make any comment when they would be disrespectful to her face.

She then began to notice that she did many of the chorus while traveling, just like they had when they were younger. She found that she looked after Aang more like a mother would, rather than a girlfriend. Katara found herself turning for a kiss on the cheek rather than one on the lips. Aang asked her what was wrong and she just answered that she was tired. He shrugged, said ok, then asked when dinner would be ready.

She was known by many as simply the Avatar’s Girlfriend. Never mind that she was a talented waterbender, that she had fought in the war, that she had helped bring Azula down. 

Nope, she was the Avatar’s girl. It didn’t sit well considering that she did much of the work between the two of them. 

As they stayed in the Northern Tribe, she threw herself into tasks to help avoid her internal problems and focused on the external ones. Most days she was working from early in the day to well after dark.

One evening she was walking back to her place after the sunset. She overheard two benders walking by. 

“-she’s pretty good looking to be honest.” One guy said to the other.  
“Yeah and she’s the Avatar’s girlfriend. Good luck with that one.” Katara froze at the words ‘Avatar’s girlfriend’.  
“She is? Dang. He managed to catch a good one.”  
“More like she managed to catch him.” The other man retorted.  
“Are you kidding? Everybody knows that the girl is the catch, not the guy. I talked to her a few days ago and she really did seem cool.”  
“Wow, someone have a crush?”

The other guy snorted.

“How long have they been together?”  
“Since the end of the war.”  
“Hmm. I can still try right? Show her what she is missing.” The first guy laughed and their voices faded.

Katara slowly unfroze. 

She liked the sound of being a catch, and the way the waterbender described it made it seem even better. Only problem, she didn’t feel like a catch. She felt like a trophy.

That thought seemed to take up permanent residence in her mind. 

She talked to other girls her age about their significant others. The way they described them was not the way she would describe her relationship with Aang. As she thought more about it, she knew she needed to gain some distance from Aang if she was going to properly assess the situation.

She didn’t want to trouble him with her worries. He was usually in a good mood and the peace work was going well. She didn’t want to put him out of his current mindset. So she kept quiet.

She worked early and came home late, only seeing Aang at dinner, then they passed when they were going to bed. She wasn’t as sneaky as she thought and Aang soon came to her and asked her why she was avoiding him. 

“I’m not trying to avoid you.” She replied.  
“Then how come I never see you anymore?” He asked.  
“We’ve both been busy.” She said, trying to move past him to get to the kitchen.

“I know that’s not it.” He responded and blocked her path, crossing his arms as he did.

“Look Aang, I have had a long day and I really just want to make some food and go to bed.” Katara replied tiredly.  
“Not until you tell me what’s going on.” He took a step closer to her.  
“Nothing is going on.” She snapped at him.  
“How am I supposed to know that, you don’t talk to me.” He whined.  
“Look, I have been out training, learning, and working all day while you have been negotiating, arguing and doing politics all day, we both are tired and I think we should not start arguing now.” Katara tried to reason.

Aang shook his head and took another step closer. Katara was forced to look up to meet his eyes. She hadn’t realized how much taller than her he was now. At 18 years old he probably stood near 6 feet and had filled in with some lean muscle. She had had the height advantage for a while when they were younger, it was strange realizing that this was in fact, a rather different person. 

“I want to know what is wrong with you so I don’t have to worry.” He said, narrowing his eyes down at her.

Katara he just wants to make sure you're ok. A voice in her head mumbled.

She took in a deep breath to calm herself before processing the first part of what he said.

“Excuse me?” She said.  
“What?” he asked.  
“What’s wrong with me? I am sorry but did you just say that I am the supposed problem.” She growled. 

A flash of uncertainty flicked in his eyes before they hardened.

“Yes, because I know it isn’t me.”

Her eyes widened in astonishment. 

“You know it isn’t you huh? And why is that oh great Aang.” She put as much venom into her words as she could.  
“Well you’re the one that’s been avoiding me, you have this look like you aren’t telling me something, and it is making it hard to focus while negotiating.” He replied, waving his arm.  
“Oh so you're concerned because you can’t do politics as easily.” She shook her head. “Well fear not because I am doing nothing that should concern you.”

She turned and made to go to her bedroom. 

A block of ice shot up and blocked her new path. Katara turned fiery eyes on Aang. 

“Do you know how hard it is dealing with officials all day?” He snapped. “They argue and argue and never seem to want to give in. I have to be a beacon of peace as the Avatar to make sure they don’t try to kill each other and that is very hard when I am distracted. So it would be a little helpful if my girlfriend would speak to me and make my job a little easier.”

“So that’s all I am, a distraction.” She hissed.

“Right now, yeah, you are.” He replied.

Katara was starting to tremble with rage. She was trying to keep him happy, and that is what she had been trying to do for years. Now all she was to him was an annoying distraction. To her horror a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. Aang’s stormy gray eyes flicked to the droplet and back to her face. An emotion flicked across his face. Katara had seen it enough times on her brother to know what it was. Annoyance. He was annoyed that she dared to cry.

A knock came on the door and she whipped around. It was one of her friends.

“Katara, Kaha is going into labor and we need some help for delivering.” Melli explained. 

Katara nodded with wide eyes and turned to grab her medical bag. The block of ice was still in her way and she moved to push it back down. Aang beat her to it and she rushed into her room.

When she came back outside, Aang was sitting on one of the fur covered chairs. He looked up at her and she nodded a little hesitant to him. He blinked and she rushed out of the house.  
-  
She returned near morning and collapsed in her bed. The birth had been pretty simple as far as births could go. Kaha now had a son with large dark blue eyes. 

When she woke again it was near noon. She slowly dragged herself up off of her bed and walked out through the house. It was empty, which was expected. 

She ate food and headed out into the city. People smiled at her and greeted her. She was known by many here. As a healer, a waterbender, a friend. It was nice to have a little piece of home away from home. She did a little work for a friend before making her way to the medical tent. She walked past the few beds and checked in with the patients. Finally Katara checked in with Kaha and her new son. She was swiftly sent away when Kaha noticed the bags under eyes.

“Go home! You have done my family a great thing, now get home to that boyfriend of yours and get some rest!” The mother shooed her off from her place on the bed.

Katara dragged her feet back to the house and paused before going through the door. She was aware of someone moving around inside. She did not want to go and deal with Aang right now. 

Had he always been like this? She asked herself.

She walked into the house to find the main room empty. She walked to the kitchen and caught sight of Aang meditating in his room. As quietly as she could, she slipped into her own room and sat down with a scroll. It talked about the history of politics between the tribes. Katara had been reading it for a while, she was the chief’s daughter, she thought it might be good to look into her own tribes political history. 

After a while she heard stirring out in the living room and decided she couldn’t hide much longer.

She walked out and found Aang running through a series of Firebending stances. 

“Hey.” Katara said quietly.

He grunted in greeting, without stopping his stances.

“Look, I’m sorry, about yesterday. I was tired and I am sorry that I have been worrying you recently.” 

Katara was met with silence.

Aang didn’t acknowledge that he had heard her until he had completed the rest of his stances. 

“Thank you for your apology.” He said and looked down at her. “I shouldn’t have worried that much, you don’t seem to do much during the day.”

Katara looked at him confused.

“I may have seen you in the city today.” He answered her unspoken question.

She waited a little bit more but Aang resumed his practicing now with a series of Earthbending stances.

She bit her lip and went into their kitchen and began to prepare dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I don't really know how to write falling out of love and relationships so don't come for me. I also believe that Aang would be a little toxic in this situation. Sorry for my bad writing in this chapter, it gets better I think. Thank you for reading!


	2. End of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual end of the relationship

There was a tension in the air for a while after their fight. The argued a few more times but she would quickly try to defuse the situation before it got too bad. But it was hard when arguing was a second nature to her. However, the angier they got, the more their bending got out of control. Cracks would spider up the ice walls and the temperature would rise noticeably when they got at it. Afterwards though, she would go around and mend the damage.

One occasion, they were arguing about what she couldn’t remember. But she was told that the ceiling had collapsed on them when the walls had become too fractured. She had gotten a concussion and even with healing, she didn’t remember much from that night. She did remember yelling, wind, and a strange feeling of helplessness. 

She had bruises and a few cuts but nothing to major.

They didn’t argue after that. Aang had an almost haunted expression on his face now and didn’t seem up to arguing. Once they moved back into a new hut, he had asked if he could sleep with her that night. She had been too tired to turn him down and she soon found herself with his arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. It hurt and she winced, but he didn’t let go.

They continued for a few weeks like this. She wondered why things were getting harder. Things had never been like this before. She and Aang just seemed to have suddenly very different views and opinions. She thought long and hard about it. The more she thought, the more she knew and she soon came to a simple conclusion. 

She had lost her feelings for Aang.

After that, she stayed out later to avoid him and started making excuses. 

Katara knew that she needed to tell him to end both of their suffering but she didn’t know how. She hoped he would react well and they could break on good terms, but a part of her knew that it might be unlikely. 

Finally things started to wind down and the negotiations were finishing up. They were going to head back to the Southern Tribe next to officially finish, but Katara knew that she needed to tell him here and now.

She asked him to walk with her one evening after he came home.

“I have been wanting to talk to you about something.” She explained.

They made their way out onto the walls where they could have some privacy. Katara looked out over the moonlit waves and took in a deep breath.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Aang asked.  
“I wanted to talk about us.” She responded.

Aang leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

“What about us?”

Katara had prepared for this moment for days, but it didn’t make it much easier.

“Aang, for the last month, we’ve been not seeing eye to eye and have had a lot of disagreements.” She started.  
“Our first few years were pretty amazing.” She smiled a little. “We were in love and free.”  
She finally turned her gaze to the Avatar.  
“These last few months, I haven’t felt that. I’ve felt tired and stuck in one place, I have done a lot of thinking as well.”  
“Well we are leaving soon, we’ll get a change of scenery and then things will go back to the way they were.” Aang replied.

Katara shook her head.

“I don’t think they will.”  
“Katara what do you mean?” Aang pushed off the wall to step closer to her.  
“I mean I think we have been in a rough patch and I don’t think it will get better.” She said.

Aang shook his head.

“We can get through it, many people go through this in their relationships. We can get through it. I know we can.”  
“How do you know?” Katara asked.  
“Because we were meant to be together.” Aang took another step closer. “As soon as I laid eyes on you when you freed me, I knew we were meant to be together.”  
“Aang, we were together. I fought a war together and we have been working to gain peace for the world together.”  
“I know, but, I just had this feeling that we were destined to be together. Katara I love you, don’t you love me?”  
“I do! I do, and I always have. But now that I have thought about it, I realize that it might not be the right love for a relationship.” Katara said.

Aang blinked down at her.

“Are you saying that you don’t want to be together anymore?”  
“Not in a romantic sense.” Katara replied.

Aang’s face was thunderstruck as he processed her words.

“Aang, I will always love and care about you, but I’ve come to realize that I love you as family, not necessarily as boyfriend.”

Silence stretched between them as they processed what had been said.

“So that’s what was wrong with you.” Aang finally mumbled.  
“Excuse me? There wasn’t anything wrong with me. I just came to a realization.”  
“There must be something wrong because how can you not want to be with me?” Aang’s eyes were turning angry.  
“Be with you? There is nothing wrong with falling out of love.” Katara snapped at him.  
“Yeah but I am the Avatar. Do you know how many girls would love to be my girlfriend? DO you realize how ungrateful you sound?”

Katara’s mouth dropped open.

Aang continued to glare down at her, his eyes turned into a dark storm.

He’s trying to guilt trip her or make her jealous so she’ll feel bad and stay with him. Katara’s own anger flicked on.

“How ungrateful I sound? I have gone through hell and back for you, I have looked after you for years and I have stuck with you! If anybody is ungrateful it is you.” Katara roared.

Flames flared out of Aang’s nose.

“I would have been just as fine without you as I would have been with you.” He hissed.  
“Then you know what Aang, go on then. Go travel and fix the world, alone. Tui and La, go pick up one of the girls that would LOOOOVE to be with the Avatar. Aang, I can’t lie about how I feel about you anymore because nothing good will come of it. I don’t want to hurt you worse than I have.” 

Aang stared down at her with an angered and pained expression.

“I am sorry Aang. I never wanted to hurt you.” Katara said and she felt tears begin to well in her eyes.

Aang took a step back away from her. Then another.

“You should be sorry. You don’t know what you are missing out on.” He said before leaping off the high wall and sailing away.

Katara buried her head in her hands and cried. She cried for all the words they had exchanged in anger, for hurting someone she carried about, and for the loss of a friend. Her chest constricted as guilt washed over her and she struggled to breath.

The next morning, Aang was gone. As was Appa and the officials. Apparently they had left very early in the morning, they didn’t want to waste anymore time.

Her friends in the tribe comforted her and assured her that she made the right decision. After a few days, she felt lighter and better than she had.

As the summer months came to an end, she finished up her work there. Classes for young female waterbenders had been set up and had been underway for a while. Many progressed quickly. 

She had learned everything she could from the masters and teachers. About bending for fighting, dancing, and healing. Katara had many new skills under her belt and she felt that she had rightfully earned the title of Master Waterbender. 

Now, she decided that it was time to get on the road again and go where people needed her.  
She set sail for the Earth Kingdom as the last weeks of Summer came to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok now that we have that out of the way, we can start to get into the fun stuff. Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave kudos or a comment!


	3. Tea With the Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara's on her way through the Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Se isn't as sketchy anymore also.

Katara had been traveling. She had been moving since the break up. She had gone from the Northern Water Tribe and traveled south. She passed many Earth Kingdom villages and met many people. She walked long quiet roads and through many great forests. Whenever she came to a village, she would offer her assistance anyway she could. She dug wells, redirected rivers, helped fix houses and healed many injuries and illnesses. She would always write a letter to her brother when she made it to a town. She didn’t ask for a reply because she never stayed long enough to receive one. 

Finally Katara made out the great walls of Ba Sing Se in the distance. She had been traveling for 4 months now and was a little grateful to see the great city before her. The next day she made her way in. Some people recognized her and came up to her, but for the most part she was invisible. She bought a train ticket with the little money she had and sank into one of the window seats. One of the train workers pointed at her and whispered to another person but she ignored them.

The city was flourishing, even the lower rings. Many refugees moved back out after the war ended but some people had made the city their home.

As she continued in, she noticed many different people mingling. Mostly greens and browns, but she caught sight of a few blue coats and even a few red robes in the crowd. She smiled as the train passed and continued on.

When she stepped off, one of the train workers came up to her. 

“Katara of the Southern Watertribe, it has been requested that you are escorted to the king's palace.” She nodded with wide eyes.

As she walked she had flashbacks from when their group had to fight their way into the palace to meet the Earth King. She briefly wondered if the reason they were escorting her now is so she wouldn’t try to break in later.

“Welcome Lady Katara! It is so wonderful to have you back in the Earth Kingdom once again.” King Kuei welcomed her happily with Bosco by his side.  
“Thank you for having me your Majesty.” Katara bowed in front of the throne.  
“Oh please, any friend of the Avatar is a friend of mine.” He waved his hand.

Katara slowly rose.

“So what do I owe the honor of hosting you?” He asked.  
“I am just traveling through the kingdom.” She answered.  
“Ah, I have heard some stories about your travels.” The king's eyes twinkled.

Katara’s eyes widened a little.

“You travel by foot and you heal people for free. One of those people was a city official here in Ba Sing Se. He was on his way back home when he was ambushed. He was much appreciative when he returned. Gushed about a young woman who had miraculously healed him on the side of the road.”

Katara smiles as she remembers the man.

“It was no problem. I couldn’t ignore a person in need.” 

King Kuei smiled and Bosco yawned before laying down. 

“Please enjoy your stay in Ba Sing Se.”

Katara walked back outside and past the palace guards. Some of them gave her a side look.  
She caught a tram that would take her by her next destination.

She walked into the Jasmine Dragon and looked around. It looked like activity was starting to wind down for the day. It appeared that the Dragon of the West was getting good business though, Katara was happy that people had continued to come even after General Iroh had been exposed. 

“Is that Master Katara?” Came a familiar voice.  
“Gen- uncle Iroh!” Katara quickly corrected herself.

He smiled as she made her way over to him. He pulled her into a tight hug. He smelled of tea leaves and a little of candle smoke. 

“You look older and more radiant each time I see you.” He told her and she blushed. “And thankfully you aren’t too much taller than me now.”

Katara laughed at that.

“I had no idea that you were coming to Ba Sing Se!” He said as he pulled back to look at her.  
“Sorry, if I had known myself, I would have sent a letter.” Katara laughed.

He glanced behind her, as if he was looking for someone else.

“Are you traveling alone?”

A stabbing pain of guilt swept through her chest. Iroh must have seen something flash in her eyes because he gently led her over to an empty table. 

“I’ll be right back.” he told her.

She sighed and picked up the menu that was laying next to her.

She scanned the options and found herself marveling at the many options. As promised, Iroh returned with two steaming cups of tea. One was Jasmine tea and her’s smelled of Peppermint and lemons. She smiled at the firebender, he had remembered her taking a liking to the tea last time they had visited.

Uncle Iroh took a sip of his tea.

“Now, tell me all about what has happened since you last met.”

She talked and talked and talked. They took a break so he could close the shop before quickly returning to listen.

Katara told him all about what had happened in the year and a half since she had seen him last.

He listened patiently, letting her take her time as they got to the end of their time in the Northern Watertribe. 

When tears started to fall from her eyes, he stood and hugged her. 

Finally she finished recounting and they sat in silence. 

“You have been very busy for a while now. It sounds like you have been enjoying it though. It is good to have purpose.”  
“I know.” she sighed. 

She stared into her cup.

“Do you think I made the right decision?” She looked from the liquid.  
“Yes.” Iroh said without hesitation. “It sounded like you were no longer happy and it was making life miserable for you.” Iroh gently picked up her hand.  
“You can not control things like love. It is a fickle thing, and those who do find themselves in its embrace are very lucky.” He smiled at her.

She slowly nodded her head.

“You should not blame yourself for Aang’s actions. Just because he is the Avatar does not mean that he can act like that to the people he loves. I hope he will realize his mistake because you Katara, are a once in a lifetime find.” Katara blushed at the firebender’s words.  
“Now, do you have a place to stay yet?” He asked.  
“No, I was going to look after stopping by.” She replied and looked out the window.

To her dismay she realized that the sun had set and the city was quiet. She turned back to Iroh.

“I’m so sorry. I completely lost track of time.”  
“Don’t worry about it.” Iroh waved absently. “You needed to talk. Besides, you can stay here.”  
“Oh thank you, b-but I wouldn’t want to impose-” Katara stammered.  
“Oh please. I can’t leave a friend in need.” He stood and led her back to the kitchen. 

They dropped off their cups before walking up the stairs in the back. Iroh opened the door to his apartment situated above the shop. It had a small kitchen and a living room. He led her to his guest bedroom and made sure she had everything she needed before heading back down stairs to clean up. Katara quickly situated herself before heading down to aid Uncle Iroh.

The next day, she helped Iroh around the shop. He soon shooed her off and told her to go enjoy the city. She had finally allowed him to shoo her once he had given her a shopping list. She didn’t want to stay by charity. If she was going to sleep under his roof, she was going to be helpful.

As she walked through the bustling streets, Katara noticed some small differences from when she had been here as a teenager. Fish was more common in the market and strong spices hit her nose. People of different nationalities walked and talked, they haggled for prices and children ran through people's legs.

A few times she heard whispers behind her if they recognized.

“That's the Avatar's girlfriend! Do you think he’s here?”  
“Maybe. That would be so cool to meet him!”  
“I hear he’s incredibly handsome-” Katara quickly sped away from that conversation. 

She did not know when she was going to depart. She enjoyed working with Iroh and exploring the city. Katara would also visit the nearer hospitals and help people where the nurses needed it. Soon she realized though that it was the outer rings that needed the most help. Twice a week she would make her way out to them and spend hours healing and helping. Iroh would always have a nice cup of tea ready for her when she got back.

She hadn’t stayed in any one place for an extended period of time after leaving the north. Maybe three weeks at most. It was rather relaxing staying in one place, especially one that had such good food and company.

Iroh received a letter from Firelord Zuko early on in her stay. The letter was an update on his politics. The New Ozai Society was a thorn in his side but he was ‘dealing with it’. Iroh had shared his concern with Zuko many times, now he talked to Katara. 

“I just worry that he isn’t worrying as much as he should be.” Iroh shook his head.  
“He is doing as much as he can, I am sure.” Katara assured the firebender.

Iroh reluctantly agreed and finished the letter. 

“He is wondering if I know anything about you.” Iroh said, bemused.  
“He is, why?”  
“Zuko hasn’t heard from you in a while. He wonders if I’ve seen you or heard from you.” Iroh chuckled. 

When she had been staying in the North, she had exchanged letters with Zuko, telling him about the negotiations and what they were doing. He had talked about his many insufferable advisors and officers. As things had gotten more heated with Aang, less letters had gone out than came in. Then they both had started to get busy and communication had been scarce. She hadn’t written to him since before she left the Watertribe. 

“Oh Tui and La he probably thinks I fell off the face of the Earth. I haven’t sent him a letter in months!” Katara gasped.  
“Well little does he know, I am housing you!”

She immediately started to compose a letter. She apologized for fading from existence and gave a quick explanation of what she had been doing. She also wrote on to Sokka to update him.

The next day, Katara and Iroh walked to the post office and had their letters underway.

She got a reply from Sokka pretty quickly. Things were good with him, he was currently on Kyoshi Island with Suki. They were training new recruits and they would by cycling back to the Fire Nation once their training was done.

A few days later, a reply from Zuko came.

_Dear Katara, It's amazing to hear you're okay! I was worried when my last letter came back to me unopened. I knew that the negotiations went well and that you would be traveling again soon. I am glad that you are staying with Uncle. I know that he loves the company and enjoys the help. Things here have been a little hectic. People still don’t seem to realize that the war is over and that there is peace. All I can do is try to keep them on the right path. I hope to hear from you again soon. Say hi to Appa for me.  
-Zuko_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Iroh so much. Probably one of my favorite characters! And no one can tell me that the whole Gaang doesn't call him Uncle Iroh. Thank you for reading, feel free to leave kudos or a comment!


	4. Metal and Dirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph as a teacher? I fear for her students.

After two and a half months, Katara started to feel the draw to leave. So she finally decided, with Iroh’s help, that it was time to move on. 

“Your place is out there, not here serving tea.” Iroh told her.  
“But I am helping people here as well.” Katara argued.  
“Yes you are, but these people also have many people that can help them. People out there don’t have the same luxury. Also I can practically see you itching to move.”

She nodded and began to prepare. She sent out letters to Sokka and Zuko that she was moving on. Iroh helped her pack and soon she was ready. 

She shared one last cup of tea with the firebender. He had been slowly broadening her pallet on tea flavors. He’d taught her about the various medical uses for tea and she now had many bags of tea leaves in her bag. 

Iroh pulled her into a tight hug. She buried her nose into his shoulder. 

As Katara boarded the train, she turned back and waved to him. Then she sat down and looked forward to her next destination.  
-  
She continued on through the vast kingdom. She would occasionally stop and visit old friends along the way. She didn’t have a specific path, she just knew that she wanted to stop in Omashu. 

She also wanted to stop by Toph’s Metalbending school.

It took her 2 and a half months of wandering and many stops to finally reach the gate of the school. The sun was beginning to set as she came through the front gates and was greeted by the sight of two laughing kids. She walked over to them and waved.

“Do you know where Toph is by any chance?” She asked.  
“Master Toph is in her room right now.” The shorter of the two answered.  
“But I wouldn’t try to go talk to her. She’s in one of her moods.” The second one shivered a little.

Katara laughed.

“I see. Thank you.”

She knocked on the door to Toph’s chambers. 

“Go away didn’t I tell you soulless demons not to disturb me?” A shout came.  
“Toph, that’s no way to talk to a student, your student no less!”  
There was a pause.  
“Sugar Queen?”

The door was thrown wide open to reveal the Earthbender.

“Hi Toph.”

Toph smiled.

“Well, shave me down and call me a mole rat, it is Katara. Come in, come in.” Toph ushered the other girl into the room before closing the door and locking it.

Katara cocked an eyebrow before speaking.

“Is that necessary?”  
“Oh absolutely. Those little demons will be the death of me. I wish someone would have told me that children were so obnoxious and bad at following orders?”  
“Sounds just like someone I know.” Katara laughed as she sat down on a chair.

Toph scoffed.

“You couldn’t possibly be talking about me.”   
“Oh really. You became a con artist and an actual bandit with wanted posters up for miles. You hated following orders and disregarded most laws that you came across, AND last time we were in the fire nation you took out half the walls surrounding the royal palace when you and Sokka were out rampaging.” Katara counted off her fingers.

Toph waved it away dismissively.

“It's more fun when I am the one doing it than when I am the one trying to get others to not do it.”

Katara smiled and shook her head. Toph was currently trying to organize her desk, to little affect. There weren’t many papers, some blocks of engraved stone, and many other miscellaneous items. She took the time to observe Toph. She was 18 now, like Aang, and had more or less grown into her personality. She stood eye to eye with Katara and had filled out. She was also muscled, probably from wrangling rocks, metal, and children. She had a few more scars now but most of them did. Katara was proud of how much Toph had grown up. 

“So where’s Aang? You two have been attached at the hip for years, is he gonna drop by unexpectedly?”

The familiar pang hit Katara. She kept forgetting that many people didn’t know that they had broken up.

Toph seemed to pick up on this immediately.

“Oh Katara, I’m sorry. Was it bad?” Katara soon found herself spilling out the whole story.

Toph for her part, tried not to look too bored. When she was done Toph just nodded.

“His whole Avatar status has been getting to his head. And he was always pretty flighty. I don’t know much about relationships but it seems like you did the right thing.”

That night they ate in Toph’s room and Katara was staying in a guest room, it was a little nicer than the dorms for the kids but Katara didn’t complain.

The next day she went out and observed the Earth and Metal benders. They ranged in skill and were divided accordingly. Toph taught them much like she had taught Aang, but these kids seemed to take it better. Earth was a rougher element and learning it, Katara had learned, was also a little rough. 

Katara watched them long into the morning before she went to find a place where she could practice. There was another court yard with a fountain that she picked. She ran through her usual poses and techniques. She had practice most days while traveling to keep her skills sharp, but she hadn’t really had to use her bending for anything too strenuous for a while now. 

Later in the day Toph came and found her. She flopped onto her back and groaned. 

“Having fun?” Katara asked.

Toph groaned again.

“Some get it really easy, and some it seems like they refuse to do it. They eventually get it but the process is exhausting.”

Katara smiled and patted Toph’s leg.

“So the greatest earthbender of all time has been defeated by a bunch of kids?”   
“Hey! I’m not sparing them, I’m teaching them.” The earthbender said indignantly.   
“Ok, ok relax.”  
“Sugar Queen, I need to clear my head, so do you want to spar?” Toph turned her sightless eyes to her.

Katara immediately perked up at the mention of sparing.

“Sure, I haven’t had a good fight in forever!”

They met back up outside of the school by the river. The girls each had good access to their respective elements and a small group of students were forming as an audience. Toph raised their fighting ring up a few feet off the ground, whoever fell off lost. They began.

Toph started on the offense, sending boulders and columns flying towards Katara. She deflected and dodged them before sending a wave of water towards the earthbender. Fighting on ice for a waterbender was like fighting on earth for an earthbender, so Katara was better adapted to avoiding many things she had to throw at her. 

As it turned out though, Katara was the first to slip off. The students cheered for their teacher. The second round Katara was able to sweep Toph off in a big wave of water. The third round was their rubber match. Both her panting from the fighting, but Katara hadn’t felt this alive in forever. 

Neither was willing to bend to the others will this round and the fight carried on. Then finally Katara saw her opening. Toph was preparing to slam her foot down, all Katara needed to do was catch her before she landed, of course that would leave herself open. Time seemed to slow and Katara sent water gliding along the ground, freezing as it went. Toph’s foot connected and was swept out from under her. Katara jerked her hand and Toph went flying, the same time a boulder smashed into her side. 

Both girls tumbled out of the circle. 

Half of the students declared that Toph hit the ground first, marking her the loser, while the other half argued that Katara hit first. Grudgingly it was declared a draw and the two friends limped back to school. 

Katara ached in many places at the moment, and based on how Toph was walking, so did she. She made her halt at the water fountain and she healed the bruises and cuts on Toph. The Earthbender sighed happily as her muscles relaxed and the student’s watched in wide eyed wonder.

“Hey, don’t you all have things to be doing.” She barked at her students and they quickly fled.

After she healed Toph she started on herself. That night they had a large dinner and argued about who won the fight.

The rest of the week, Katara studied the student. She studied their bending styles and techniques. Then she practiced them herself. Some of the student’s noticed and offered to help her, she gladly accepted.

The students seemed to take a liking to her. She would often stop by the infirmary and heal any injuries and even taught a few lessons about waterbending techniques. 

“There is a lot to learn from other bending styles.” She had told them, remembering what uncle Iroh had said.

Finally Katara waved goodbye to the student and Toph after 3 weeks at the school. They had packed her all kinds of food and gifts for her travels. Toph and punched her arm before allowing Katara to hug her. 

“Be safe out there Sugar Queen.” She told her.  
“I will. Try not to crush too many of your students.”  
“No promises.”

And so Katara was on the road once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See how I avoided actually picking a winner? I feel like it's better this way. I love to think that they all picked up new fighting styles from the different nations, because I know Iroh and Zuko did, but so did Katara when she was fighting Hama. Anyways, thank you for reading and feel free to leave kudos or comment!


	5. Oh My Shoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter, Omashu politics and a certain eccentric king!

After another month and a half, Katara made it to Omashu. She bypassed the cave of lovers and took a shorter route, shaving off a few days. 

The city looked a little different since her last time there. Even though King Bumi had done a number on the fire nation settlements that had taken up residence, the marks were still there. Now many different people mingled on the streets. 

Katara didn’t plan on saying too long, she just wanted to visit and restock. Also send letters out. She bought a few nights stay at a hotel. Iroh had insisted on giving her money while she worked for him. He had also snuck some more money into her bag before she left, she hadn’t discovered it until she was well out of Ba Sing Se. 

It didn’t take long for Bumi to learn of her presence and request her in the palace. King Bumi was one of the more interesting characters that they had met during the war. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her to ice one of the cart chutes so he could slide down it again. 

As it turns out, he had injured his toe and wanted medical assistance. 

“I couldn’t think of a better healer to do this than you!” He told her cheerfully. 

She ate lunch in the palace around the many officials and advisors of the city. They ignored her for the most part and talked politics. 

“We should raise taxes for the working class, we still are working to pay off the damages the fire nation caused 5 years ago!” A man named Baho declared.  
“We would need to raise it 20% to pay off a fraction of it. I say we raise working and farming. That should get us back on track by 5 years from now.” another official named Mouhun replied. 

Katara listened as they bickered. It didn’t make much sense to her to raise taxes for the lower classes. She had seen the farmsteads outside of the city. They weren’t very wealthy and some were still recovering from the war. The lower class of the city were also rather impoverished.

Katara looked to the head of the table to see King Bumi’s reaction. He appeared unaware and had his head buried in a bowl of stew. 

“We should also raise taxes on outside merchants. Those fire nation merchants get off easy.” Baho said. 

Katara was finding it harder and harder to remain silent. She hadn’t forgotten all she had learned about politics on her travels. 

“Don’t forget the damages outside of the city. We will need to raise it to at least 25% to make up for those.” A new official added.  
“Why don’t you raise taxes on the merchant class and the nobility?” Katara blurted suddenly. 

All eyes turned to her.

“Pardon?”  
“You are talking about raising the taxes for the lower classes, but they can’t afford it. Why not raise it for the upper class, it should make up for lost profit faster as well.” Katara explained, her face heated a little under all the attention. 

All the officials looked at each other.

“And what was your name again?” Mouhun asked.  
“She’s the Avatar’s girlfriend.” A female official whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. 

At that they all relaxed and started speaking to one another again, seeming to forget her idea.

“Excuse me? You didn’t answer my question.” She spoke up.

Baho looked at her with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry dear, but what you propose is not very possible.”  
“Why not? It would save you time and energy.”  
“Look honey, we respect the Avatar and all that but we know how to run our own city.” Mouhun replied.

Katara fumed. Then it clicked in her head. These people were part of the upper class. They wouldn’t want to lose their own money.

Katara fought to sit back down and not make a scene. But she wasn’t about to give up this fight so easily.

“The only reason you won’t do it is because you don’t want to lose more money. You just want to make others suffer while you sit up at the top of the hill and make decisions! You only care about your own wealth and you don’t care about this city or these people. And I will have you know that the Avatar had nothing to do with this. I am perfectly capable of seeing a problem without anybody else’s help. And my name is Katara.” She sat down with a huff and glared at the nobility around her.

Silence had fallen across the room. They all were staring at her with wide open mouths. All the servants had stopped moving as well and were staring at her. A pen could drop and it would be deafening. 

Then someone started laughing. Katara looked to the head of the table to see King Bumi cackling. 

“This Katara of the southern water tribe. Daughter to chief Hakoda. A princess in her own right. She is a talented healer and waterbender.” Bumi wiped a tear from his eye and smiled at her.  
“I like her idea. Raise the taxes in the merchant class and nobility. I don’t like nobility anyways.” Bumi said.

Baho and all the officials looked at Bumi in shock.

“But, your majesty-”  
“Ah.” Bumi interrupted him.  
“But king bumi you’re nobility-”  
“If you'll excuse me, Flopsie needs his noon brushing.” The king stood and marched out of the room, whistling a tune. 

Katara took that as her que to leave. As she walked out of the palace, one of the servants stopped her.

“Thank you master Katara.” She had tears of joy slipping out of her eyes as she spoke.

Katara nodded and smiled.

-  
She finally reached the southern shore of the Earth Kingdom.

Katara took a deep inhale of the salty air. It had been almost a year since she had seen the ocean. Almost a year since she had started traveling. A year since she broke up with Aang. A year since she had finally felt free. 

The ocean breeze here was saltier and brinier than in the north and south poles. But it lacked the biting cold it did in the poles. The sun was setting off in the distance and no one was around her, she hadn’t seen anybody in days. She had traveled in silence, just the sound of her own feet crunching on the ground. 

It was peaceful. She had let her mind wander and her spirit calm. 

Now she stood before the roar of the ocean. Ever so slowly she dropped her things and slipped off her shoes. She stepped into the water and let the sound of the waves roll over her.   
Katara took a deep breath before beginning to dance. 

It was one of the things she had learned while in the northern watertribe and she had seen it throughout the earth kingdom. The non bending women in the northern water tribe had beautiful dancing styles. She had taken a liking to them and had learned 6 different sets before leaving. 

While in the earth kingdom, she had seen one village use earthbending in a ceremony. It had sparked an idea in her head that she now was bringing to life.

She flowed through the movements, and slowly began to bend water around her form as she danced. She took it slow so that she wouldn’t drop the water or her movement. 

Finally after the sun had set and she had finished the dance, she let the water drop and she took multiple deep breaths. It was harder than she thought to coordinate her body and her bending, but she wanted to get a handle on it. 

She looked out at the dark ocean.

She was going to start along the coast until she reached a town with a dock. She knew where her next destination would be and she had just enough money to get there.   
-  
The bustling town was much different than the quiet woods she had walked through a few days before. People shouted and argued, laughed and howled. The docks were especially rowdy with the many sailors. She got a few catcalls and whistles, but she simply ignored them. Before the day was up she had secured a ride to Kyoshi Island. They left in the morning, it would be a 2 day ride. Katara stood up on the deck and watched the land fall away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what politics are or how to write them so enjoy my attempt. I hope I wrote Bumi well enough with his eccentrics... I saw a gif on Pinterest of Katara doing ballet moves while water bending and KNEW THAT IT HAD TO HAPPEN. As always, thank you for reading!


	6. Old Family, Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoshi Island and reunion of our favorite Watertribe siblings!

She stepped off the boat with slightly wobbly legs. It had been a little rough the last few hours but she had calmed the waters around the boat for the most part. The captain asked if she would like a full time job on the boat which she respectively declined. 

Katara made her way up through the houses. It had grown considerably since the war had ended. More people moved back and more recruits poured in. What had once been a small village was now a town.

Finally she found herself in the training Dojo and courtyard. There were about 10 girls lining the edges as two warriors fought in the middle. They did not wear armor and were only armed with fans. The girls grunted and spun, sweating in the heat. The surrounding girls called out encouragement as the battle wore on. Finally one was able to catch the other girl by surprise with a cartwheel kick and the opponent fell. 

The girls cheered as the winner helped the loser up and hugged her.

“That was good, very good. You both have progressed a lot!” A familiar voice called out praise. 

Suki walked into the center to face all the girls.

“We must all be prepared because you don’t know where or when we may find ourselves with the need to fight. If you can fight without armor, you can fight anytime.” Suki made sure to make eye contact with many of the girls as she spoke. “Let’s take a break then we will get back into defensive strategies.” 

The girls broke away and Suki picked up a discarded fan. 

“They looked good.” Katara said as she made her way into the yard. 

Suki whirled with a smile on her face.

“Katara!” 

Suki ran over and hugged Katara fiercely. 

“I had no idea you were coming! When did you arrive?”  
“I haven’t been here long, but those girls looked really good!”

Suki beamed.

“I know, they have been working really hard for the past few months. They are very promising. Both of them are from the Fire Nation no less!” Suki praised.  
“Wow, when I was here last, the first fire nation recruits were just getting off the boat.” Katara laughed.  
“I know! So much has happened since I last saw you. Sokka said that you had been doing some traveling yourself. Please, tell me everything that has happened.” Suki looped her arm through Katara’s and led her to where she could drop off her bag.

Suki stopped one of the other trainers and asked her to take over her class. They went out to one tea shop in the town and began trading stories. 

Suki was completely understanding of Katara’s choice with Aang. Katara was happy to have someone she knew personally that was good with relationships tell her this. 

Suki told her all about the training and the new wave of Kyoshi Warriors. They were on patrol of the Fire Nation Palace at all times. There had been only one assasination attempt in a year as a result. 

Katara was thrilled. She had been happy for both Zuko and Suki when he asked her and the Kyoshi Warriors to be his guard.

They left the shop long after their tea had turned cold. 

The sun was working its way down the horizon when they made it back to the Dojo. Girls greeted Suki and nodded politely to Katara. Laughter rang through the halls as they went about doing chorus and such. 

“Sokka is going to have a heart attack when he finds out you're here.” Suki told her.  
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Katara laughed. 

They rounded a corner and entered a more office looking area. There seated behind a desk, was a very annoyed and stressed looking Sokka. 

“Oh Sokka, I have a little surprise for you.” Suki sang.  
“Unless it is a whole grilled Wolverine Moose or a gang of singing girls I don-” He was cut off by a small whip of water hitting his head.  
“Ow what was that-” He looked up and his eye just about bugged out of his head.  
“KATARA?”

She smiled.

“Hi Sokka.”

He jumped up and scrambled around his desk before wrapping his thick arms around her and sweeping her into a bear hug. She looped her arms around his neck and hung onto him even after he set her down. 

She hadn’t realized she was crying until she felt Sokka sniffle into her hair. 

“Hey, I thought it wasn’t manly to cry in front of a girl!” She laughed and pulled away to look at him.  
“Oh hush it and let me be happy.” He snapped before pulling her back in. 

When the sibling finally separated, he immediately started interrogating her. 

In her letters she had said that she was traveling alone, but had never said why. He wanted to know why Aang had let her go off wandering around the Earth Kingdom by herself.

“Sokka, I am more than capable of taking care of myself.” She rolled her eyes.   
“Yeah, but traveling alone. Through the Earth Kingdom. By yourself.”   
“Yes. I am still alive aren’t I?” 

Sokka narrowed his eyes and partially rounded her, as if checking to see if she was actually there. 

“How about we talk over dinner?” She suggested. “It looks like you could use a break.”  
“Ahh the life of an ambassador, lots and lots of paperwork.” He sighed as he draped himself dramatically over her shoulders.  
“Wow, sounds rough.” She teased.  
“It really is.” Sokka stepped back and looked her over. “You’re a lot thinner than when we saw you last, when was the last time you had a good meal!”  
“Maybe you're just thicker.” Katara rolled her eyes.  
“Thicker?! Excuse me, it is all hard earned muscle.” He flexed his biceps and kissed each on.

Suki rolled her eyes and smiled at Katara. 

“How do you put up with him?” Katara asked.  
“I don’t know.” Suki said she shook her head.  
“Hey, I am standing right here you know.” Sokka complained.   
“You can speak with the adults when you act like one.” Katara teased.  
“Excuse me?” Sokke said indignantly and drew himself up to his full 6’ 1” height and glowered down at her.

She was uncomfortably reminded of how Aang would do something very similar. She took a careful step back. His tough guy exterior immediately cracked and was overtaken by concern.

“Are you ok?” He asked, deflating his posture.

She shook her head slightly.

“I’m fine.” She replied. 

Suki and Sokka shared a look.

“What were you saying about dinner?” He asked, breaking the tension.  
“Well I haven’t been here in a while so you will have to point me in the right direction.” She replied, a smile returning to her face. 

She was led back down through the town as the first stars started to appear. Cooking smells and voices swam through the air as the town’s night life began to wake up. Sokka walked with an arm around Katara’s neck and an arm around Suki’s waist. He chatted about the latest politics and news from the Fire Nation and what he had been working on when she came in a surprised him.

They finally came to a stop in front of a restaurant on the edge of the wharf. 

“You probably haven’t had good seafood in a while.” Sokka said. “This place has amazing seafood, and they cook it southern style! They also have really good smoked Turkey Duck.” 

They went inside and were promptly led to an outside seating area. It overlooked the harbor with the many ships docked. Katara recounted her story with more detail for her brother. Both Suki and Sokka were happy to hear that Uncle Iroh was doing well in Ba Sing Se and that King Bumi was still the same. 

“Wow, my baby sister is learning politics.” Sokke bumped her with his shoulder.   
“Yeah, yeah. I thought it could come in handy later in life.” She shoved him.  
“I can give you a few lessons if you want.” He offered.  
“I’m good. I wouldn’t want to impose on your thinking time.” She smirked.

They laughed and talked as their food came and they dug in. Katara had ordered a seafood dish with the catch of the day and a creamy sauce with noodles. She stole bites of Sokka’s Turkey Duck and he snuck bites of her fish all while Suki watched on in amusement. 

After they had eaten their fill did Sokka finally ask the question that had been nagging him all evening.

“So, where is Aang?”

Aang was very much a part of their family, just as Toph, Suki and Zuko were. That is just how Sokka thought of it. Probably something to do with the whole watertribe family thing that Zuko had mentioned a while ago. Sokka couldn’t help but worry about Aang, it was a habit.

Suki quickly looked up and shook her head. Katara did not notice but Sokka did. His eyes widened a little.

“Um, we kinda, um, broke up.” Katara mumbled and looked at the table cloth.

Sokka’s mouth dropped open and he looked at Suki.

“Katara, I’m sorry.”  
“It's ok, it was like a year ago.” Katara fidgeted with her napkin.  
“A YEAR AGO? WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY TELL ME ANYTHING.” Sokka cried, causing a few people to look over at their table.

“I didn’t really tell anybody.” Katara said, trying to calm down her brother.   
“Well why not? It’s kind of important to tell people close to both of you that you guys aren’t a power couple anymore.” Sokka had one fist on his knee and was leaning closer to her.  
“What was I supposed to do, write to everyone and say, ‘Hey guys just so you all know, Aang and I broke up, have a nice day!’?”   
“Maybe.” Sokka waved his arms around as he spoke.  
“Sokka, give her a break. She didn’t want to make a big deal about it.” Suki replied.  
“Hmph.” Sokka huffed but sat back.  
“It was for the best, really.” Katara assured him.  
“You guys seemed pretty tight last time I saw you.” He said as he crossed his arms.  
“Things just, started to change. I didn’t like him the same way he liked me. I had to end both of our suffering.”  
“Still, why did he let you travel alone? I would think he would still be aware of your safety.”   
Sokka pointed out.

He made a mental note to have a serious conversation with Aang about leaving people stranded.

“Well, he actually, kinda, left.”   
“What? Why?”  
“Well the negotiations were just about done in the Northern Tribe. I talked to him, he wasn’t very happy. The next morning he was gone with Appa and the officials.” Katara took in a shaky breath.

Sokka and Suki shared another look.

“He just left you in the Northern Tribe?” Suki asked incredulously.  
“Yeah. I was not happy, but there was nothing I could do.” Katara shrugged.

Sokka was going to have a very long lecture with Aang. Just wait until he got his hands on him.

“He’s always been kind of flighty, but still, it made me pretty mad.”

Sokka looked back to his sister and noticed the tears trailing down her face. His heart clenched. He thought that her heart would be safe with Aang, that she wouldn’t have to go through the kind of betrayal she had felt with many before. He felt angry with himself for letting Katara be hurt in a way he couldn’t protect her.

He stood up and went over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. 

“It’s been a year.” She sniffled. “I should be over this by now.”  
“Wounds of the heart last longer than you think.” Suki told her and gently took her hand.

Katara wrapped her free arm around her brother and let the familiar scent waft over her.   
-  
Sokka escorted her back to her room after Suki took off to check in with some of the recruits. He hopped onto her bed as she unpack some of her things. She had been traveling light, a change of clothes and some other essentials.

“How long are you staying?” He asked.  
“I don’t know, a little while hopefully, and do you have to put your shoes on my bed?” 

Sokka kicked his shoes off and resettled.

“Where are you going to head next?” 

Katara paused and thought.

“I don’t know. Wherever I am needed.”  
“That is a very vague yet Katara sounding answer.” He muttered.  
“Rude, now scoot over.” She pushed him over so she could lay down on her bed as well.

They laid there for a few moments, just staring at the ceiling.

“Have you heard from Gran Gran or dad recently?” She asked.  
“Yeah, things in the south are good. The building has been going well. They took a census and the current population is 129.”

Katara made a surprised noise.

“I know, it rose fast thanks to some Northerners moving in. There were like 3 families with 5 or more kids already and more on the way that moved down in a whole pack.”  
“Wow, could you imagine raggling 5 kids?” Katara asked.   
“I sure couldn’t!” Sokka laughed. “You would probably have a lot more luck, pack mom.”  
“Thanks.” Katara shook her head and smiled. 

It felt right to be laying here next to her brother. It felt like old times and old memories. But soon she could sense that something was off about her brother.

“What is it?” She asked.

Sokka swallowed. 

He did not really want to voice his question, but at the same time he needed to know. It had stemmed from her earlier reaction to him. It was enough to inform him that something had happened between her and Aang.

“Did Aang ever… hurt you?” Sokka asked, tilting his head to look at her.

Katara was silent. 

Had Aang ever hurt her? Emotionally a little bit. They had fought, they had yelled, they had cracked open their house. But he had never intentionally harmed her. 

“No, he didn’t. I mean, we fought but, mostly with words.” She replied.

Sokka let out a breath he had been holding. He loved Aang but if he had ever laid a hand on his little sister, Avatar or not he would make sure no one found Aang again.

“Good cause I was worried that I would have to explain the disappearance of Avatar Aang once again to a lot of people.” Sokka laughed. 

Katara tried to bring a smile to her face but had little luck. Talking seemed to bring back the memories that she had tried to shut in. 

Sokka noticed a shift in his sister and rolled on to his side to face her. 

“Hey, I’m sorry about Aang. You two seemed like you two were inseparable. But I guess people can grow apart.”

Katara shook her head.

“It wasn’t him, I started to drift, I realized that I didn’t feel the same about him as he felt about me. He started blaming me for problems and it was all downhill.”

Sokka sat up and pulled his little sister into a hug. 

Eventually Sokka retired to his own room and Katara settled down to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for Katara and Sokka's interactions. I also got hungry while writing so if someone could send me a seafood dish that would be amazing. Thanks kids for reading!


	7. War Paint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but who doesn't like Kyoshi Warrior face paint?

A few days in Katara started to feel restless again. She woke up and ate with everyone, then she practiced bending for a while before going to lunch, she stopped by the infirmary for the school and the town before spending the evening with Sokka and Suki. 

Suki picked up on it quickly. 

Katara was watching the girls train when Suki walked up to her.

“Do you want to learn like they are?”

Katara was caught by surprise. 

“What?”  
“I noticed that you seem a little bored. And it is always good to learn new things.”

Katara cracked open a large grin.

“I would love to learn Suki! If it is ok with you of course.”  
“Oh please, I trained your brother.” Suki laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be easier.”

They started the next day before the sun even had risen. 

Suki was going to try to train Katara when she wasn’t training the new Kyoshi Warriors. They trained until breakfast and then after dinner. Sokka stumbled upon them one morning and then became insistent that he work with them. So the three of them trained each morning and evening. 

Katara soon figured out that being in shape for walking miles a day was not the same as being in shape for training as a warrior. She went to bed sore each day, but satisfied. Suki praised her for picking up on skills quickly. Katara had studied Toph and recently the Earthbenders at her school, many things translated over to non bending fighting. 

Sokka and Suki would trade off sparing with her. She was a little cowed going up against her older brother in hand to hand combat now that he had outgrown and out weighed her. But seeing Suki knock him down many times, helped build her courage. Even so, each time she was knocked down, he quickly helped her back up and dusted her off. Just like when they were younger.

Katara implemented different techniques that she had picked up over the years. She never used her bending and instead exercised her less used skills. Eventually Suki invited her to some of the classes with the other Kyoshi recruits. The day she finally had the makeup of the Kyoshi Warriors painted onto her face, it felt rightfully earned. 

Sokka also got it painted on and they spent the whole day complementing each other on their war paint. 

3 months into her stay, the recruits were ready to be shipped out. They had been training for more than a year and were ready to continue their training in the Fire nation with other seasoned Warriors. Katara figured it was also time for her to move on as well. The boat arrived that carried the warriors coming off duty along with a few brand new recruits. The rest would come back on the next boat when they were relieved from the fire nation capital. 

It was a 2 week journey to the Fire Nation Coast. There they would dock and restock before making the final stretch to the Capital. Katara planned to depart when they got to the coast.  
The weeks onboard were spent training and also relaxing. They didn’t spend extended periods of time on the main deck because they didn’t want to disrupt the crew. Katara had grown accustomed to wearing the Kyoshi Armor and she knew she was going to miss training, but she knew that she was needed elsewhere. And she couldn’t lug armor around with her. 

Instead, Suki and Sokka gifted her an embroidered fan. It had watertribe symbols and pictures on it were inscribed along the wood and the color was a deep blue. When they finally made port, Katara walked down the gangplank. Suki hugged her goodbye and wished her safe travels. Sokka was a bit more emotional. He wasn’t going to be staying in the Fire nation as long because he was going to head back to the Southern Tribe. He hugged her tightly and mumbled the traditional watertribe goodbye in her ear. She repeated it back and kissed his cheek.

Katara turned and waved goodbye to the other warriors who she had come to know, before turning and starting the next leg of her journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katara the Kyoshi Warrior does have a ring to it. I also know exactly what Katara's fan would look like but that's just my interpretation. Now we are going to get on to the fuego nation! Thanks for reading!


	8. Into the Fire (nation)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara continues her journey into the Fire Nation. Runs into some trouble, kicks some butt, you know, the usual

Katara traded her Earth Kingdom green for Fire Nation red. She now wore an outfit similar to what she had worn during the war. 

She wandered around the map, stopping where she was needed. The people of the Fire Nation were different from the Earth Kingdom. They didn’t like to ask for help, and even when you offered it they would turn you down a few times. They seemed to be determined to fix everything on their own. Katara did not offer her water bending as much here, she didn’t know what reaction it would cause. 

However, those who let her help were always very grateful. Her mouth seemed to toughen from the Fire Nation spices and she now could enjoy her meals without fearing them. As Katara traveled, she came across a road block. There were a few bored looking soldiers stationed. She cautiously approached.

“Hey, the roads blocked. You gotta turn around.” One guard called.  
“Why is it blocked? Isn’t there a town down there?” 

Katara had consulted her map that she had gotten early in her journey (her brother would be proud) and she had decided to stop here next.

“Towns’ under lock down, some kinda sickness. No one’s allowed in or out. Nobody wants it spreading.” The second guard answered her.  
“What if they need help?”   
“Government official that runs this area don't want it spreading.”  
“Now just move along. A girl like you shouldn’t be traveling out here alone.” The other guard laughed.

Katara slowly turned and started back up the path.

After a while she circled back around to try to find a way into the town. It was rocky and treacherous but after some careful climbing, the town came into view. Katara camped outside among the rocks that night. She didn’t know how she wanted to approach the situation. She toyed with the idea of scraping together a Painted Lady costume but quickly sent that idea away. 

The war was over, there was no need to hide anything. The world was on its way to heal, to do that everyone needed to do their part. Hiding that she was from the watertribe might not be a big deal, but letting people know where she was from and that she was now working to help people from the rival nation would carry a larger impact than a spirit appearing and helping.  
She slipped on her water tribe blue clothing and tied her hair back. 

The next morning she marched into the town. There was not much happening and the few people that were out were sunken eyed and warry. 

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing here?” A man yelled from his store front. “There are supposed to be no outsiders until either the sickness is gone or we’re all dead.”  
“I’m here to help.” Katara announced.

The shopkeeper's eyes widened before he started laughing. 

People poked their heads out of doors and windows to see what the commotion was. Katara looked at him confused. 

“Help us?” The man wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. “Even if you could, why would a Watertribe girl help us?”  
“Because you are sick and I want to help.” Katara answered. “The war is over, we should get used to helping each other.”  
“Yeah right, the wars over. Now we are supposed to go and run around holding hands. Look girly, you can’t erase something that has affected the world so much. Go tell the Avatar that as well. We don’t want your help.” He growled.   
“You mean you don’t want my help. I never said that the war should be erased, I just think that it is time to start healing wounds.” Katara turned and looked at the many people that had stepped out of their houses.   
“I am here to help the sick, your governor clearly isn’t going to send help so I am the next best thing at the moment.” 

No one seemed to move for a while. Then slowly people started to retreat back to their previous tasks.

Nobody looked her in the eye. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that they were going to try to ignore her presence.

She shook her head and went looking for the hospital or sick house. On the edge of town she found a hastily erected tent with sounds of coughing coming from within. She opened the flap and was met with the smell of the sick. 

It was dark and dingy. Many beds ran along the edge and center of the tent. There were 10 people occupying the 18 beds. The nearest was an older man. She could see lesions and boils along his arms and legs.

“Hey, no one is allowed in here but the sick and doctors!” A voice cried from the back of the tent.

A small man came hustling to the front and attempted to shove her back outside.

“Wait, I am a healer!” Katara protested.

The man stopped and squinted at her. She had about an inch of height on him and a few pounds. He had glasses and graying hair. 

“You look like you're from the water tribe.” He observed.  
“I am. I’m a healer and I came to help.” 

Someone from the back of the tent moaned and started coughing violently. The man rushed back and Katara followed him. The patient was a younger woman with freckles. Her lesions and boils looked much worse and were oozing fluid. The man placed a wet rag on her head. 

“What kind of sickness is this?” Katara breathed.

“Nothing I’ve ever seen. They start out by getting a fever, then they develop a cough. Then they rapidly start to lose strength. Then the boils and lesions and then they die.”

Katara squinted at the woman, trying to gauge how old she was in the darkness. 

“They also become hyper sensitive to sunlight.” The man explained. 

Katara quickly unscrewed her water and bent water around her hand. She paced it on the girl's head and let her healing pick up anything else that was wrong. 

The man backed away when he saw Katara bend but paused when the woman stopped coughing. Katara moved, trying to find the sickness and purge it from the woman's body. It felt like hours before she managed to remove the illness. She quickly got to work on healing the lesions and boils next. 

The woman let out a long sigh as Katara worked. 

Finally Katara sat back on her heels. The woman had a peaceful expression on her face now as she slept. The boils had left a few scars, something that wasn’t avoidable, but she was alive.

“How did you do that?” The man asked in awe.  
“My name is Katara, I am a waterbender from the Southern Watertribe and I have healing abilities.” She told him with a smile.

He nodded with wide eyes.

Katara worked through the day and into the night on the various people. Some were much easier to heal than the woman. Everyone was different.

She didn’t rest until she had been to all ten of the patients. The man led her over to a bed he had set up and she happily collapsed in it.   
-  
When she woke, the man, who’s name was Lee Shukom, had a small bowl of food for her. Many of the patients were starting to sit up and move around. There was disbelieving laughter coming from all corners of the tent. A few, including the first woman she healed, came over and thanked her with teary eyes. 

The people of the town were shocked when the sick, who they thought were on death’s bed, exited the tent and waltzed into town. 

The townspeople now regarded Katara with looks of awe.

New sick people however continued to pop up, but Katara continued to heal them. 

After two and a half weeks, there were no new cases. The town was in desperate need of outside attention. They had very little food. Katara marched with the rest of the town to the road block and demanded to have the restrictions taken off. The guards were shocked to say the least. It was another many days before the governor found the time to send an inspection team to look over the town and make sure there were no signs of sickness. They found none. Food was immediately shipped in and the town held a large feast.

Katara waved goodbye to the townspeople after the festivities were over. Many of the children ran up and clung onto her waist. 

“Katara we don’t want you to leave.” One young girl cried.  
“Yeah, what if the sickness comes back?” Another boy sniffled.  
“Don’t worry.” She knelt down so she was eye level with them. “If it comes back, I will come racing back here to beat it back again.” She tickled the nearest child and they all burst out laughing. 

The adults made sure that she had enough food for her travels, but even they were hesitant to see her leave. Even the shopkeeper was a little sad to see her go. They waved as her blue robes disappeared into the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bubonic Plague whooooo. We stan a healing queen. Thank you for reading!


	9. The Fire Raiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is- is that actually their name? They couldn't have picked something more original? Or scarier?

Somehow, her name seemed to start to beat her to new places. Some people already knew her from traveling with the Avatar, more people in the Fire Nation knew her as the water bender that fought an Agni Kai. She wore her hair in the traditional fire nation top knot, but kept her mother’s necklace around her neck. She had stopped worrying about showing her watertribe blues. 

A few more towns had a sickness going around much like the first town. She soon realized that this whole region was under the same governor. She thought about storming his house and demanding that he take better care of his people, but decided against it. This was not her home country, and it might not look very good for Fire Nation and Water Tribe relations if a waterbender attacked a government official. 

She wondered if Zuko knew about what was happening in his country. She wrote in great detail about it as soon as she could. She just hoped that it would actually reach the Fire Lord.   
She had to take a ferry in between the islands as she traveled. To pay for passage, she would work on the boats for a few days. 

Many retired soldiers found work on the docks as well. Katara saw many different people as she traveled. There were veterans missing limbs, with disfigured arms and legs, and many with what looked like frostbite wounds. The soldiers themselves had haunted eyes. They glared at her as she passed and spat insults. They begged for money if they couldn’t work. Some even had families with them. She dropped money or food to them whenever she could spare the change, but some just threw the many back in her face. 

The war ending had displaced many soldiers that needed the money to the streets. They blamed Zuko and the Avatar. If anybody was looking to rise against Zuko, they didn’t need to look much further than the streets to find support.

This filled Katara with dread. She wondered if he knew about the unrest in his people. 

She continued on and finally made it to the main land of the Fire Nation. The towns were less impoverished and a little closer together. All the fire nation towns were actually pretty close, as opposed to the Earth Kingdom where there were vast expanses of uninhabited land. 

The more people she met and the more places she saw, the more she came to enjoy the Fire Nation. There were many great things that she hadn’t gotten to enjoy when they were fighting in the war. The people were rather nice, and driven. It was nice to experience it when they weren’t driving to conquer the world.

Dancing had become a cultural phenomenon. People that had been practicing in private, came out in fore and were reteaching all the traditional dances. Many times Katara would stumble into a town on an evening and find everyone out dancing. 

She remembered wistfully the evening when Aang organized a dance party for the students of the school. 

The injuries she was now healing were the run of the mill kind. Broken or twisted bones, common cold, and a few burn wounds. The amount of people that came to her for burn wounds was strangely high. You would think that for a nation that literally has fire in the name, that they would be better at dealing with burn wounds.

However, she also seemed to run into more bandits and outlaws. Not as many as the Earthkingdom, but these people were more ruthless. They were old war veterans with years of fighting experience. 

Katara always kept extra water on hand, just in case she ever ran into one of these bands. The fateful day came while she was staying in a small town. There had been a band of raiders that had been terrorizing the town for months. They call themselves the Fire Raiders. 

Katara had to hold back a laugh when she saw how serious the man she was taking to said their name. 

They stormed in on Fire Rhinos and wielded fire tipped chains. Women grabbed their kids and ran for cover while the few men of the town put up a fight. They were quickly taken down though. Katara came sprinting as soon as she heard screams and found them raiding the main store. 

She slipped in through the back. 

The leader was a large man with many scars and tattoos along his arms. 

“Hey, leave these people alone and no one has to get hurt.” Katara yelled.

The men looked up surprised at her. They glanced at their leader who burst out laughing. 

“Get lost little girl, before you get hurt.” He told her and went back to grabbing money.  
“I won’t tell you again.” Katara said nonchalantly. 

She grabbed her fan and flicked it open, absently fanning herself.

“Hey, did you not hear me bitch? Get lost, before I let them do whatever they want with you.” The leader growled.  
“Sounds to me like you’re scared.” Katara yawned.   
“That’s it!” 

The man whirled his chain and swung it at her. She ducked and dodged. The chain smashed through a wooden cabinet and splintered rained down on all of them. Katara charged at the man. She dropped and rolled as the chain whizzed over her head. She kicked his feet out from under him and he toppled. She jumped up and flipped him over onto his stomach. She took his chain and wrapped it around his hands. 

She noticed movement behind her and threw her fan up just in time to block the knife flying towards her. Two men charged towards her and she focused on evading. It felt good to put her skills to use. Katara wanted to see how long she could go without using her bending.   
She traded blows with both of the raiders as the leader yelled curses from the floor. More people were drawn into the store. 

More chains and knives seemed to appear around her. A sharp stinging pain erupted across her back and arm as well as something slamming into her opposite side. A well placed kick sent her flying backwards. 

Katara layed on the floor dazed. Someone appeared in her vision and she reacted on instinct. 

A jet of water slammed into his face and he was sent flying out of the front of the store. The raiders starred confused. Katara slowly stood, water hovering around her hands. 

They redoubled their attacks, but Katara was in the zone. Raiders were thrown and swept back out on the street. The townspeople watched in awe as she cleared them out. She pulled from a nearby barrel of water and encased all of the raiders in a large globe of ice. 

She planted both feet and lifted the ice globe up before sending it rolling right out of the town. 

The town's children cheered as they sped away. 

Katara relaxed her stance and looked back at the damage from the store. It was pretty extensive. Slowly she sat down and started checking herself over for injuries. She had many gashes and bruises but nothing a healing bath couldn’t fix. 

Over the next few days, she worked for the store owner to help fix the damages. 

-

Katara stopped and stared at the old volcano before her. The Caldera was impressive. She had seen it many times, but not from the ground looking up. Well, she had on the Day of Black Sun, but she chose to ignore that.

“Beautiful isn’t it.” 

Katara turned and looked at the person who had spoken. It was a woman, she had a baby slung across her front.

“It is.” Katara replied and returned her eyes to the mountain.   
“What do you hope to find there?”   
“Hmm?” Katara looked at the woman confused.  
“Most people come to the capital to find something. New status, a better life, a good bowl of noodles.” the woman smiled.  
“Oh, well I’m here to see an old friend.” Katara replied.  
“Me too.” The woman repositioned her child. “I don’t think I have seen a watertribe member looking here before.”

Katara smiles a little.

“Times are changing.”  
“Yes they are.” 

The woman and Katara started towards the city together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intentionally picked a bad name, I think its what the creators would have wanted. ANYWAYS, finally Katara is standing before the Caldera, the wind blowing dramatically through her hair, the sun setting behind her silhouette- to much detail? OK. Thanks for reading!


	10. Fire and Water Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment I have been waiting fo- sorry, the moment WE'VE all been waiting for.

Katara found out that the baby’s name was Aizu. The woman was Sai. 

They were going to meet her old friend so that she could ask her friend to be Aizu’s godmother. 

Katara explained what she had been doing for the past year. Sai was impressed.

“You are living a dream young Katara!”  
“I’ve always loved to help people, and I want to help heal the wounds of the war. I figured the best way was to get out and do it myself.”  
“You're brave, and talented. Now tell me about this friend you are visiting.”  
“Oh well, uh. We’ve known each other for a few years. He used to be my enemy but then he became a really good and close friend.”  
“Oh he’s a boy!” Sai crowed.  
“Y-yes, he is.” Katara stammered and blushed.

“Ah the best friendships come when you go from a rivalry to friends.” Sai sighed. “I hope he knows how lucky he is that you are taking time out of your travels to see him.”  
“Haha, well I am hoping that I can stay here for a little while. I feel like I might be able to make more of an impact here right now.” Katara explained.  
“I’m sure you will.” Sai smiled.

They entered the city and Katara looked around in awe. Things had changed in the few years since she had been there last. More people were bustling about but instead of snapping remarks and hesitant smiles, people openly laughed and wandered about. Aizu’s eyes widened as he took in the sights and smells of the city. 

Katara and Sai finally parted ways as they approached the Palace. From here the gates looked imposing and regal. She could see the vast buildings behind as well.

“Good luck with your friend.” Sai told her.  
“And you with yours.” Katare smiled.  
“I hope to meet you again Master Katara. It was truly a delight.” Sai pulled a surprised Katara into a hug.  
“How did you know I was a master?”  
“Oh please, not many people are named Katara and are waterbenders in the Fire Nation. You’re the first waterbender to win an Agni Kai.” Sai smiled again.  
“It was nice to get to know you as a real person.”  
“Thank you Sai.”

Sai disappeared into the crowd and Katara continued on to the palace.  
-  
Zuko was struggling to not let his head drop onto his desk and fall asleep as the Earth Kingdom official droned on. He had gotten pretty much no sleep last night because the Earth Kingdom officials arrived spontaneously and he was completely unprepared. Finally, FINALLY the man finished and his advisors started making comments. 

They were talking about a new trading agreement. The Fire Nation was hoping to tap into some of the Earth Kingdom’s natural metal deposits in exchange for exporting their newest metal works. The Earth Kingdom was however trying to make it as hard and as expensive as possible. 

Agni he just wanted to sleep.

They finally agreed that they would continue debating tomorrow with fresh minds. Zuko shook hands and exchanged a few words before retiring to his room. The servants he passed bowed before correcting themselves. He had told his staff that they didn’t need to bow to him but old habits die hard.

Zuko slipped out of his main robes down to his shirt and pants. He took his hair out of its top knot and ran his hands through it. He had let it grow out a little, but was still keeping it at a manageable length. He flopped onto his bed and sighed. 

He was hungry but he was also very exhausted. As soon as his eyes closed, he was asleep. 

Then, of course, about ten minutes later, someone knocks on his door. 

He groaned.

“Fire Lord Zuko, you have a guest.”

_I swear if it is another Earth Kingdom official I will murder someone. _He thought.__

__He slowly stood up and grabbed a new robe. It was lighter and less aggressive than what he was wearing earlier. He retied his hair and slipped his crown back on. Zuko took a deep breath before opening the door and following the servant down the hall._ _

__He was brought to a parlor where he usually met newly arrived officials. Zuko steeled himself for the worst._ _

__What met his eyes was something far better though._ _

__There were three people in the room, two Kyoshi Warriors and the guest._ _

__Seated on the couch, with a bag at her feet and dust all over her clothes, was Katara._ _

__She turned to face him, and a large smile lit up her face._ _

__“Katara?” He asked disbelievingly.  
“I hope this is ok, I didn’t send word ahead or anythin-” She was cut off when he threw his arms around her. _ _

__She hugged him back just as fiercely. He smelled of cologne and expensive food, along with some undertones of sleep deprivation._ _

__Zuko finally pulled away, his scowl replaced with a smile._ _

__“It's so good to see you! It’s been forever.”  
“I know it's great to see you too!”  
“I knew you were in the Fire Nation, from your letters and from the stories I heard, but I didn’t know if you were going to stop here or if you had somewhere else to be or-” Zuko rabbled.  
“Zuko, Zuko slow down.” Katara laughed. “Of course I was going to stop by. I couldn’t miss a chance to see the Fire Lord.”_ _

__She smiled mischievously at him._ _

__He rolled his eyes. All of his friends seemed to get a kick out of him being the Fire Lord._ _

__“You look like you haven't slept in a week, what’s going on?” Katara asked him.  
“Surprise visit from the Earth Kingdom.” he replied, scrubbing his hand over his face.  
“Oh, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Her eyes widened.  
“No you're not, we were finished up for the day.” He assured her.  
“Well then I should let you go to bed before you fall asleep standing up.” She said.  
“No, I’m good. I haven't even had dinner yet.” _ _

__She turned a very motherly annoyed glare to him._ _

__“You need to take better care of yourself. I’ve been here for like 5 minutes and you already are causing me gray hairs.”  
“I will, last night was just, unexpected. How about, you have dinner with me and you can tell me about how you have been since your last letter.” He proposed._ _

__Katara looked up at his tired looking eyes and askew hair. But she also noticed the look of hope that was shining there as well._ _

__“Ok you convinced me.” She sighed with a smile._ _

__They settled down in Zuko’s private dining area._ _

__He seemed perfectly happy to sit and listen to her talk as he ate. He did seemed puzzled by the sick villages and claimed that he hadn’t heard anything of it._ _

__“That region is under governor Ezorai’s jurisdiction. He’s one of those slippery ones. Just in it for his own wealth.” Zuko grumbled.  
“And you can’t kick him out?” Katara asked.  
“No, he has a lot of power here in the capital. Kicking him would turn more people against me.”  
“Can you move the region from his control to another official?”  
“I might be able to if word gets out about the sick villages.” Zuko rubbed his chin, something she would see Iroh do when he was deep in thought.  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think.” Katara said.  
“It's fine, I’m glad you told me.” He waved away her apology._ _

__Long after they finished their food, they finally began to stand and prepare to head off to bed.  
Zuko offered to lead her to her guest room. She smiled and looped her arm through his offered elbow._ _

__They came to a stop outside her door.  
“Well, Katara of the Southern Watertribe, this is where I leave you.” Zuko said with as much chivalry as he could.  
“Why thank you Lord Zuko, the evening was lovely.” She replied with her own exaggerated amount of chivalry and she lowered herself into a curtsey.  
“Oh stop.” He pulled her back up. “You’ve saved my life to many times to bow or curtsey to me.”  
Katara looked at him once again with a large grin.  
“As you wish my-”  
“Now you sound like Aang or Sokka.” Zuko complained.  
Katara laughed and opened her door.  
“Katara…” Zuko’s voice drifted off as her ocean blue eyes met his.  
“Yeah Zuko?”  
“Um-” He searched for words. “I-its really good to see you.”  
Katara dipped her head.  
“It’s really nice to see you too Zuko.”_ _

__Zuko walked back to his room with an extra bounce in his step. He slipped back into bed feeling much lighter than he had earlier. None of his friends had been to visit in awhile, it was nice to have someone who he knew was on his side, back in the palace._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OML FINALLY. I know that I am the writer in all but CHEESE AND RICE. Our two have finally met, and hugged, and eaten dinner! Ok now we actually can get into the fun stuff. Thanks for reading as always and feel free to leave kudos and or a comment!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea to write about falling out of love or ending relationships so please don't attack me. I also believe that Aang would get a little toxic so I tried my best. I should probably finish my other Zuko and Katara work before finishing this one but I couldn't resist.


End file.
